Sanguine passeris auri auro
by Cherry-flowers-always-blossom
Summary: What if Hermione Granger wasn't a mudblood girl but was part of the oldest pure-blood family of all times? What if she wasn't a single child? Her life is going to change, that is for sure! DGHG  Sanguine passeris auri auro/ golden blood of the golden bird
1. Chapter 1

What if Hermione Granger wasn't Hermione Granger? What if the mud-blood girl wasn't a mud-blood? What if she was part of _the_ oldest pure-blood family of all times? What if she wasn't a single child but had:

A big sister that lived in an old fashioned muggle family from Denmark

A twin brother that lived with a crazy man in Australia

A little brother and a little sister, born in France, that hardly spoke any English

How would her friends react when they learn _who_ are her parents, _who_ is meant to be her husband (to keep the family pure), _who_ is her godmother and most of all, how would _she_ react, learning all of that?

Hermione isn't finished being surprised, and she might –just might- get used to her new life and like it!

**Chapter 1**

Hermione was lying down on her bed, trying to understand what had just happened.

The day had started quite well, she had gone to the lake with Jessie, a friend that had subsided over the years, and a few of her friends – she didn't have any real friends in the muggle world now that she had spent five years away from them – but once she had gotten back home, she felt the tension coming from her parents immediately.

They were both sitting on the couch, waiting for her

- Hermione? Called her father. We have something to tell you…

Intrigued and a bit scared by his tone, she came to sit in an armchair.

- Yes? She asked apprehensively. Her mother attempted a poor smile

- Well… Her father hesitated, and looked at her mother

- What? Asked the girl, more and more scared. Her mother took a deep breath

- Wearenotyourrealparents, she said in one breath

- Sorry? Asked Hermione, I didn't understand. Her father smiled sadly

- We ought to have told you a long time ago, but they didn't want you to know…

_- What_ were you supposed to tell me? She was getting very irritated now

- We aren't your real parents Hermione, we adopted you fifteen years ago. Her mother gently said.

- … You _what_? She asked, not believing what she had just heard

- We adopted you. Said her father in a firm voice.

Slowly, she started laughing. What was a soft laugh at the beginning soon became a fit of giggles and in no more time than it takes to say _Quidditch_, Hermione was roaring with laughter. After a few seconds, her stomach hurt so much she couldn't laugh anymore and she whipped her eyes. Her laughter left as quickly as it had come when she saw her parents looking sadly at her

- It's joke right? She asked, a hint of fear in her voice

- No Hermione… Your real parents are coming tomorrow…

Hermione looked at them with her mouth open

- You're lying, she whispered. Her mother leaned to touch her hand

- Hermione, please… she started, Hermione took her hand away before her mother could get hold of it

- YOU ARE LYING! She screamed, LYERS! HOW DARE YOU SAY I'M NOT YOUR DAUGHTER? LYERS!

- Hermione, we consider you just as our own daughter. You are what we always wished for, and even more! We love you very, very much! Said her father, covering her screams. His daughter looked at him, than his wife, and she got up, backing up

- I don't believe you. I have your eyes daddy, everybody always said so! And you mum, well how many times have people told you I smile just like you? I _am_ your daughter! She looked at them both. Please… she asked them, pleading. Please tell me I am your daughter? Mum? She turned to look at her mother, but as she just looked away, she turned towards her father. Dad? She asked in a small voice. He too looked away, not answering.

Hermione felt tears coming up and she suddenly left the room. She ran up the stairs, being very careful to make as much noise as possible, even if she knew it was a childish behavior, and she locked herself in her bedroom and let herself fall in her bed, crying as she had never cried before. She couldn't remember for how long she had cried, but she eventually fell in a dreamless sleep.

She was now thinking of all her parents had said… She wasn't their daughter, of that she was convinced now, but why hadn't they told her before? But before that, a much more important question: who were her real parents? And why had they abandoned her? Her stomach made a very loud noise -she hadn't eaten since the day before – so she decided to go down for breakfast. She would have to meet her parents (the Grangers) anyway…

When she got into the kitchen she found it empty.

- Mum? Dad? She called through the house

Not hearing anything, she went into the garden. There was her mother, taking care of her plants

- Mum? Called gently Hermione

Heather Granger looked up and smiled when she saw her daughter

- Come here darling! She said, opening her arms for her girl to cuddle in them. They stayed like that for a very long moment

- I'm sorry for yesterday mum… whispered Hermione. Her mother gave her a little squeeze before letting go of her

- Don't worry, we understand perfectly well… You had every right to be mad at us for having hidden this to you for so long…

- But why didn't you tell me before? Asked quietly the brown haired girl. Her mother gave a little smile

- Your parents –the real ones – made us promise not to tell you anything. They were apparently in big danger and didn't want you to get hurt.

- I understand… And… Were they… Were they wizards? Asked Hermione with an apprehensive glance to her mother.

- … Yes. The mother and the daughter stayed silent for some time. Finally, the oldest one broke the silent.

- Their name is Sangaur. I don't know much about them except they were fleeing from something very dark and dangerous. I don't know if they have any other children. At the time, your father and I wanted to adopt a child. I had already tried to have one, but he was a cold-child, the doctors said I shouldn't have any more children; I would probably die if I did… So one night, your father and I were looking at adoption kits when the doorbell rang. There on the doorstep were a couple and a little baby. They both looked very tired but the baby was fast asleep. Tom and I immediately invited them in. They didn't stay for long…

_µ -Flash back- µ_

_Heather Granger and Tom Granger were both pouring over a pile of paper. They looked very tired and worn by time, but determination shone on their face. It was that determination that kept them up until very late in the night. The moon was very high in the sky, hidden by clouds, and a cold wind was blowing. Tom suppressed a yawn. Heather looked up_

_- I'll go get some more coffee she said in a whisper so as not to disturb the silence._

_As she was passing in the hallway, the bell rang. Wondering who could come so late in the evening, Heather went to open the door. Her husband got up and followed her to the door._

_On the 'welcome' rug was standing a couple. The man was tall and thin, his pale face underlining his dark hair. Heather wondered for a split second if he was made of marble before mentally slapping herself, she must be very tired to think that! The woman was carrying a baby in her arms. Her hair must have been beautiful, but in the moment, they were very untidy. The couple seemed so tired; the Grangers invited them in without even asking who they were. Heather went to make some coffee while the couple silently sat on the sofa._

_Once they had warmed themselves up with the hot drink, the woman started talking in a faint voice_

_- We are sorry to disturb you so late at night… She said_

_- Absolutely no problem! Exclaimed Heather Granger, we weren't sleeping anyways!_

_- Yes! Don't worry yourself! Would you like to sleep here? Asked Tom, feeling it was the right thing to do for the couple in distress. The woman smiled feebly_

_- No, no, we must go very quickly, I fear we have been too long here! We have come to you because we –my husband and I – understand you are looking for a child to adopt, is that right? She asked. Heather and Tom seemed puzzled_

_- Well yes, it is true… Finally said Heather with a careful voice. The woman took a deep breath._

_- Will you please adopt our daughter? She had tears in her eyes_

_- Wait, you want to abandon you little girl? Asked Tom in an even more careful tone than his wife_

_- I beg you; we don't want her to get hurt! She will risk so much by staying with us! The woman seemed really desperate_

_- Are you in trouble? Asked Tom. If you are we can call the police and they'll arrange everything for you! They'll put you somewhere where you will be in safety! The woman gave a poor smile_

_- The police wouldn't be able to do anything for us… _He _is too powerful…_

_At the mention of that '_He_', the man seemed to come out of his lethargy. He spoke in a slow deep voice_

_- If we have come to, you, it is because we think you will be the best persons to take care of our little princess…_

_Heather could feel her reticence falter, but Tom was much more pragmatic_

_- You don't even know us! This time, the woman spoke_

_- We have watched you today and seen how much you love children! Trust us; we wouldn't leave our daughter to… to just anybody! Her voice had become stronger. Suddenly, the man looked up and whispered_

_- We have to leave quickly Adora, they have found us…_

_The woman looked pleadingly up _

_- Please, I beg you! I know you want a child so please, accept to take her! She has every chance to get killed if she stays with us! If you don't do it for us, at least do it for her!_

_Heather and Tom looked at each other. He could see how much his wife wanted to have a child, the desire shone in her eyes. Then he looked at the couple and the baby. They looked tired, devastated, as if they had just lost everything, while the little baby slept calmly in her sheets. He saw the man mouth _'one minute'_ to the woman and a look of pure terror came on the woman's face. That was it._

_- Very well, we will take her. He said._

_The woman leaped to her feet and Tom could see she was holding herself not to hug him._

_- Thank you, thank you! She whispered, tears in her eyes._

_She gently took the blankets into her arms and kissed the little baby on its cheek. _

_- Her name is Hermione. She was born on September 19th__ last year; she will make a wonderful woman! She is very special! I am sure you will take good care of her! _

_The man took the girl into his arms and pressed her onto his heart_

_- Goodbye little princess! He whispered, I hope we can see each other again one day!_

_He then gave the baby to Heather. Will they were running off towards the door, she asked_

_- Will you come back to get her one day?_

_The woman turned around_

_- I hope so, but we cannot promise anything! She waved at her daughter_

_- I love you darling! She said, and a second later, her husband and she were in the street._

_There was a long moment of silence only disturbed by the little baby's breathing. Finally, Tom sat back down_

_- What have we done? He asked, running a hand over his face_

_µ -Flash back- µ_

Hermione was now sitting in the kitchen with both of her parents –Heather and Tom Granger- and Tom beamed, finishing his story:

- But I had absolutely no reason to worry! You were the best daughter we could ever have had!

Hermione smiled

- I love you very much too! And even if I have to have four parents, you will always be my Dad and my Mum!

Heather laughed

- It was quite a shock when we discovered you were a witch! Of course your… she exclaimed a brief hesitation… your mother told us you were special, but we were miles away from thinking you were a witch!

The brown haired girl smiled and then asked

- When did you hear about my new parents?

- We received a letter yesterday. It was sent by the post so I guess they might have thought the letter would arrive a bit earlier, but you know, there has been a lot of strikes lately…

Hermione shook her head

- And at what time are they coming? She asked

- They said around three this afternoon.

The witch looked up at the clock

- Is it really eleven o'clock? I'll never have enough time to pack! She cried

- Do you need help? Her mother asked

- No, thank you, I think I'll just dump all of my drawers into my school trunk, it will be quicker.

Her father gave a mighty laugh

- You will never change Hermi'! Go and pack now!

She beamed and left the room.

_1h30'_

Hermione's mother knocked on her daughter's door

- Hermione, I brought you something to eat, she called

The young lady opened the door of her room.

- Oh no, I can't eat, I feel so bad! My stomach hurts!

- It's ok dear, it's normal you're nervous. I'll leave you the plate, if ever you want to eat…

_2h00'_

Had she really packed everything? All of her letters? All of her books? And her clothe? God, there wasn't anything to do anymore. She would clean her room. And the windows. Should she do the bathroom?

_2h30'_

She was very hungry but she also felt like she was about to throw up. What were her parents like? Would they be nice? Did she look like them? Would she like them? Would they like her?

Stop thinking! She told herself. She went into the garden to spend some time with her parents.

_2h59'_

Oh no, almost three o'clock! Maybe she should have eaten something?

- Calm down Hermione! Said her mother.

She cut a white rose and put it into her daughter's hair.

- You look just beautiful my darling, said her mom, hugging her. Her father joined the embrace and the big church clock rung three times.

There they were, walking up the street. A woman a man and a boy. They were dressed as muggles.

The woman was wearing a very cute grey _chandaille_ on a light blue dress. The man was more in the black tones, with a black shirt that matched his eyes and his hair but contrasted with his skin. The boy wore a shirt as blue as the ocean, his hear a blond as the sand.

Hermione's heart missed a beat. They were beautiful and looked in very good shape. They weren't at all as she had imagined them: tired and crumpled up.

- Hello! Called the woman as the Grangers greeted them. I am Adora Sangaur! She said, holding a hand out; I hope you remember me? She asked, a bit worried

- Of course we remember you! Although you have changed a lot! You look in much better shape now than before. Beamed Mr. Granger, shaking her hand. I am Tom Granger of course

- Pleased to meet you, said Mr. Sangaur, I am Alrick, and this is our son, Leo.

- Heather Granger. Smiled Mrs. Granger, shaking all three hands

- … Hermione. Simply said Hermione.

There was a little embarrassed silence as all three Sangaur looked at Hermione.

- Come in, come in! Invited them Mrs. Granger

She led them to the living-room.

- Sit down, would you like to drink or eat anything? She asked

- Oh no, I'm sorry but we'll have to leave soon, Lila is taking care of Keith and Feather by herself… Hermione became white but nobody seemed to relies it except for Leo…

- Are you finished packing Hermione? Asked her real mother –Adora-. Hermione nodded, not trusting her voice.

- Leo can come and help you if you want. Continued the woman, Hermione nodded again

- My room is upstairs. She told the blond boy.

Once they were alone in the corridor, she asked in a small voice

- How many brothers and sisters do I have? He smiled

- The oldest one is Lila, she is seventeen, it will be her first and last year in Hogwarts this year, then there are you and I… Hermione abruptly stopped

- We are twins?

- Yes, Leo smiled

- … I'll have to get used to having so many brothers and sisters… And Keith and Feather?

- Well Keith is turning eleven, so it will be his first year in Hogwarts, and Feather is eight. She speaks mostly French.

They had arrived in front of her room and as she opened the door, Hermione asked

- French? How come?

- Well, they lived in France all of these years… Hermione took her trunk by the handle

- But you haven't? she asked

- Lila, you and I have been adopted before our parents left to France to hide. I have just discovered my new family two months ago.

Hermione didn't say anything as they came down the stairs, each holding one end of the trunk. When they arrived in the living room, her parents, from flesh and from heart, got up.

- We should go, said her new father, looking at his watch. Her other father, Tom, came towards her

- Goodbye then, Hermione, and take care… He hugged her

- Goodbye darling, whispered her mother into her ear as she was hugging her, and she kissed her on each cheek.

Hermione smiled, not really realizing what was happening. It felt as if she was just leaving for Hogwarts a bit early! She smiled at her 'old' parents, took a deep breath and walked out of the house. Just before turning on to another street, she looked back at waved to them. After that, she turned and looked at the new street that was leading into the woods.

'Back for another adventure…' She thought.

Hey! So I hope you like it, it's just the beginning so it might be a bit boring, but Draco will soon be here! ^^ I'm sorry if I made any mistakes, i'm french and not English, so if there are any sentences that don't mean anything, just point them out to me ;-D

Other than this... I suppose I should tell you to review because everybody else seems to ask for it so there you go: Please, do review, go and bad comments accepted, just as long as they aren't rude.

And... well, I wish I had a brilliantly twisted mind and had invented all of them, but no, I am not J.K. Rowling and I have not invented Hermione, Draco, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George (Oh yes, I would have loved to invent Fred and George! ^^), Molly, Arthur, Tom and Heather Granger... All of them! But The Sangaurs and Aureavis are mine (haha!)

Oh, and other than that, cherry flowers _always_ blossom! ^^


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

'Back for another adventure...' she thought, 'but this time, Ron and Harry won't be here with me.' And then she remembered 'but I have Leo, and my three other brothers and sisters, and my new parents!' Leo looked at her, a bit worried. She gave him a big smile and hurried to catch up with him.

The family entered the forest, still carrying the trunk. They stopped once they were undercover and Alrick turned over.

'I'll take the trunk, Adora will Apparate you two to the house. Are you ok with that Hermione?' He asked.

She nodded, smiling.

'Very well, take hold of my arm' told her Adora

Hermione closed her eyes, holding Adora very firmly. A few seconds later she opened them again and stayed speechless.

She wasn't standing in front of a house; she was standing in front of a huge palace!

Ok, maybe not a palace, but the house was so huge she was getting a stiff neck just by trying to see the top of it!

'Wow!' Breathed Hermione, Leo laughed

'It's quite impressive isn't it? But look around, it's even more beautiful!'

Hermione did as she was asked and… She just stopped breathing!

The manor was proudly resting in a valley. Everywhere was wildness, not a track disturbed the beautiful scenery.

'Look over there, that's a waterfall! It falls in this lake. We can go for a swim if you want?'

Hermione nodded. She faced the manor again, not baring to see such beauty at once, it burnt her eyes!

She turned towards the big wooden door

'Can it open?' She asked, looking at it with big eyes

It must have been three times her size, if not more, a big golden S carved into it. All around it, roses adorned the wall.

Adora, her new mother, laughed

'Look darling'

She took her wand and pointed at the S, touching one end of it. Nothing seemed to happen, but then, she passed right through the door, as if it didn't exist.

'A disillusion charm…' breathed Hermione

Her father looked at her and smiled

'It is quite a simple spell, but very useful!'

Hermione, glad to hear her father talk to her, smiled back

'Yes, and I read they use it at Hogwarts to, in the great hall there is an enchanted ceiling.'

'I know, I've been there too.' Her father told her as they passed the door, her brother following just behind.

'You were? In which house were you?'

'I was in Slytherin'

'Is that why there is a big S on the front door?'

'No, that is because it is the initial of our name, Sangaur.'

'Oh yes, I should have thought about it…' He laughed, and it was a warm laugh. Hermione immediately loved it

'Don't worry; it's the same thing anyways. The Sangaur are one, if not _the_ oldest pure-blood family. Slytherin's mostly bore pure-blood pupils, and most pure-blood pupils go to Slytherin…'

'I'm a pure-blood witch?' Asked Hermione, dumb-struck. Her father looked at her

'Why, is that a problem for you?'

'No, no of course not! It's just… Well, all of these years, some people have been calling me a mud-blood… It's almost funny to know I'm the opposite of what they said I was…' Her father's eyes hardened

'Who called you a mud-blood?' Hermione looked at him and was almost scared of the look of anger her father had

'Don't worry its ok!'

'I just don't want you to be sad or hurt' Alrick told her. That made her very happy

'Thank you.'

She thought of Malefoy, what a shock it would be to him to hear that she was a _pure-blood witch_! And what more, that her family was one of the oldest pure-blood families in the world! But then she had a thought that she didn't like at all

'I have a question. I heard all of the pure-blood families were related, one way or another does that mean we are related to the Blacks and Malefoy?'

'Well… The world is… Let's say it is divided in two, when you're up to pure-bloods. On one side, there are the Blacks and the Malefoys and probably a few other little pure-blood families, but very insignificant ones, and on the other side, there are the Sangaur and the Aureavis. They are a French pure-blood family. The way you can know our two families have mangled together is by looking at our name. Sangaur is a contraction of _sanguis aurum_ in Latin, which means _golden blood_. Aureavis is the contraction of _Aurea avis_, which means _golden bird_. In both of our names, there is gold.' Hermione was starting to understand

'But what is the community of Malefoy and Black?' Her father shrugged

'There isn't any.' Hermione stayed thoughtful for a moment.

'Do you know the Malefoys well?' Asked her father

'Draco Malefoy is in Slytherin in my year so I wouldn't say well, but I've met him.'

'Which house are you in?' Asked her brother.

'I'm not in Slytherin she said, glancing at her father, but in Gryffindor.' He smiled.

They had arrived at the end of the long corridor and were now standing face to light crystal and golden doors.

'I was in Ravenclaw.' Told them her mother and she pushed the doors open

The room that had just been revealed was the living-room.

Just as the rest of the "house", it was a splendid place. Very cozy and welcoming, the room stayed very natural. In the middle of the room sat a delicate wooden table and on each side of it were two big sofas of a pearl color. In a far corner stood a wooden piano. Not a grand piano, but an upright one. Somehow, Hermione preferred it like that. The wall on her left and the one facing her were, as the ones outside the manor, adorned by plants. It could have given a looked of devastated place to the house, but on the contrary, it made it seem alive!

When Hermione turned to the right wall, she gasped.

'Don't tell me this is… An aquarium?' She turned towards her parents and back to the transparent wall. 'A whole wall for an aquarium?' Not letting them time to answer she exclaimed.' And are those… Are those Lionfish? Wow, they're even more beautiful in real than on the pictures! And look at this coral! My goodness, how beautiful can it get?'

Her brother laughed and she turned to him

'What? I've never seen anything like this before!'

'You've never seen coral?' Leo asked in disbelief

'No, why, have you seen some?'

'Well, I spent my life swimming by them!'

'I'm sorry? Where were you?'

'In Australia, but my tutor loved the see so we went for a lot of excursions and he brought me with him. I loved going under water, you are right, it is very beautiful.'

That piece of information took the huge aquarium right out of her mind

'You lived in Australia? That is so cool! Really, and did you see kangaroos?' She asked him

'They aren't that impressive you know.'

'Would you like to see your room Hermione?' Asked her mother.' Lila, Keith and Feather have gone for a swim in the lake; you can go and join them afterwards if you wish.'

'I would be delighted!'

'All right, this way then.' Her father indicated the way.

They passed through an archway in the aquarium and along another corridor. It felt very strange to be walking under water thought Hermione, but she liked it. They arrived at the end of the corridor and went up a flight of stairs. They arrived on the first landing. On one side of her was a big wooden door but her father brought them in the opposite direction. They went up and down a few other staircases before arriving in front of a much smaller staircase. Alrick Sangaur turned towards her.

'From that point on and above, it is your place. You will have your own apartments.' He told her.

They then started climbing what seemed like a flight of steps that would never end. When they got to the top, she gasped. The room was, of course, beautiful, all in the red and gold tones as any Gryffindor room ought to be, but the view she had… There were no words to describe it!

'I'll let you unpack now.' Her father told her.' Oh, and just so you know, your godmother and some friends are coming to dine with us tonight.'

'All right! Uhm, at what time do we dine?' Asked Hermione

'I will ask you to come and great them at about seven thirty tonight, is that good for you?'

The girl nodded.

'Right, let's just get done with this.' She gave a flick of her wand and all of her belongings flew out of her case into the drawers. She caught a black swimsuit in mid-air

'I'll just go get changed,' she told her brother as he nodded, and she headed towards the bathroom.

A pool occupied the middle of the room, and she guessed it must be the bathtub. The wall facing the entry was a mirror, and in the far left corner was a small fountain that must be the sink. She quickly changed, took a towel and came back to her brother

'I'm ready' she told him, and they left the room.

Once outside of the maze the castle was for her, Hermione turned to her brother.

'This way' he told her, and they walked for about five minutes before arriving at the top of a cliff.

Hermione heard them before she saw them. At first, she heard a child scream and another one laugh, and then, an teenager's voice saying

'Keith! Be careful with your sister!'

It was then that she saw them, three people in the middle of the lake, one with her hair tied up in a bun, Lila she guessed, and two kids splashing each other. Hermione felt her heart miss a beat. They were her brother and sisters.

'You all right?' Asked Leo, a smile on his lips

'Sure!' She answered,' let's go and see them!' And she ran down a path on the side of the cliff; Leo laughed and followed her.

'Lila, look, Leo's back!' Cried Feather, seeing, the two of them running down

'There's Hermione!' Cried Keith, eager to meet another friend, and he swam quickly to the shore

'Keith, not so fast!' Cried his sister behind him, and the two girls made their way back too, a little slower thought.

The twins arrived at the beach at the same time as Keith. He was soaking wet, and with a huge smile he came to hug Hermione.

'Hello, he said, I'm Keith!' He had slight accent, French Hermione guessed, but it made him even more charming.

'Hello Keith pleased to meet you.'

'Leo, you're back!' Cried the little Feather, 'oh hello Hermione right?' And she hugged her too, pushing her brother aside

'Keith, Feather, you've gotten her wet already!' Said Lila, but, the two kids just laughed, not feeling guilty in the least little bit. 'I'm Lila by the way, pleased to meet you, finally!'

'Good to meet you too!'

'Come on, let's go swim.' Said Leo, and all five of them ran back in the water.

It was quite warm and they had a lot of fun. After about an hour, Adora came out with a bowl of fruits and cookies. Keith saw it first and give a mighty cry

'Cookies!'

Leo turned around and the little boy immediately realized his mistake

'No, they're mine!'

'Hahaha, you wish!' Was the only answer he got, and both boys raced back to the shore, closely followed by Feather. Lila and Hermione came back too, a little slower. It was only once she was out of the water that Hermione realized how hungry she was. She sneaked up between the three other ones, and just as Leo was about to take one of the biscuits, she snatched it away

'Hey! That was mine!' She laughed teasingly, backing up

'Hum, what a delicious cookie! Oh, I'm sure it's the best one that has ever existed!' She said, taking a bite of it.

Her twin's eyes narrowed, and giving a mighty cry he ran towards her. They rolled in the sand and finally, he got back up with a sandy peace of cookie in his hand

'Got it!' He cried, and he gave a Hermione out of breath because of laughing hand to get back up.

The three other ones were laughing too and her mother just shook her head in a way that said "how old are you?"

At six o'clock they all made their way back up to the manor to get dressed. Adora lent a dress to Hermione for dinner and promised she would bring her shopping the next day to get more formal clothes.

Time went by very quickly and all five kids were sitting in the library when the clock struck seven thirty.

'So where were you all of these years?' Hermione was asking her sister

'I was in Norway. Father and mother said they would explain everything at dinner, why they had to leave and all.'

'And that is what we will do.' Rang a voice behind them.

Their parents had come up, accompanied by the guests. Hermione couldn't very well see them, but she knew one of them was her godmother.

'Children, may I present you our friends of long date, Narcissa and Lucius and their son Draco, and your godmother Hermione, Bellatrix.'

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Hi! First of all, thanks a lot for the reviews and for all the support like putting my story in favorites and all. I'll try to update faster but I'm going on vacation for two weeks. Don't worry, I'll wright there ^^

I'm also righting other stories but I'll put those ones online once I'm finished with this one :-D

So what do you think of Bellatrix being Hermione's godmother? And the Malefoys are here too ^^

And finally, I just wanted to answer to

**Shorty653,** I wright like that (with the - ) because it's how I'm used to wright (I think it's the french way of doing it, kind of ^^ a bit simplified) but you're wright, I should be doing it with those thingies - ' - and it's much less confusing ^^ So I just changed this chapter and from now on it will be like that ;-D thanks for pointing it out ^^

I hope you enjoy it!


	3. Chapter 3

Ok, i'm sorry I havn't posted earlier but I've just finished this chapter (it's the longest one I've done)

Just before the chapter starts, I'd like to place the story a bit. All is going as in the book (well, kind of because obviously Hermione isn't supposed to be adopted or anything^^). She is entering her sixth year and Bellatrix killed Sirius at the ministry, Voldemort escaped… Nothing's changed, it's all as in the book.

I forgot to explain all of this a the beginning, sorry .

Here's Chapter 3, enjoy!

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**Chapter 3**

'Children, may I present you our friends of long date, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, their son, Draco, and your godmother Hermione, Bellatrix Lestrange.'

Hermione stared at them blankly. She was dreaming right? Or rather having a nightmare, there was no other way this could be true.

Lila stepped forwards

'Good evening, I am Lila.'

Then it was Leo's turn. He greeted them quite the same way. Hermione pasted a big ironic fake smile on her face thinking of every nice thing she could think of, forgetting she was facing murderers.

'Good evening Mr. Malefoy' she turned to his wife 'Mrs. Malefoy', to their son and took a discreet breath 'Draco' ouch, that was _really _weird, but the look of shock on his face! Ha, that was worth it. She briefly closed her eyes and turned towards the woman that had tortured Neville's parents to madness, killed Sirius under her eyes not even a month ago and so many other persons 'Good evening Bellatrix, I am…' she could not say _pleased_, the word would not come out. Would it be rude to say _surprised_? It would be rude not to say anything. '… I am surprised to learn you are my godmother.' She gave another smile and backed up for Keith and Feather to great their guests. She saw her mother smile at her in a reassuring way but missed Bellatrix's murderous glare.

After the greetings they headed towards the dining room. It was a very wide room, the kind of old-fashioned one she had seen in movies featuring the 16th century. Big windows with a golden frame gave a view on the lake while flying candles illuminated the room. A big table sat in the middle of the room, waiting for the guests to take place. A pure white cloth embroidered with gold covered the table. Eleven cutlery had been placed, eleven chairs pulled back to greet them.

Alrick headed to the top of the table being the house holder, Adora taking place on his right and Lucius on his left. Hermione made sure she was sitting between Leo and Lila but unfortunately, Draco was placed face to her. The adults spoke of business, waiting for the dinner to be served before starting all the explanation they had to give.

The first course appeared, followed by the second half an hour later and Hermione suddenly got scared. How many courses would there be? They would never be finished if each one lasted _half an hour_!

It had now been forty minutes since they'd sat down and none of the children had spoken to each other, staying silent. Finally, not bearing this silent, Leo broke it.

"So Draco, you are attending Hogwarts?" The later one looked up, surprised to hear someone talk to him.

"That's right" he answered carefully, wondering how much the Granger girl had told her brother about him.

"Do you two know each other well?" Leo asked, looking at his twin and the boy facing her.

"We've…" she glanced up at him "We've met a few times, but Mal… Draco here is in Slytherin and I, in Gryffindor."

Draco swallowed.

"Granger, I'd appreciate it if you stopped calling me like that." That made her smile.

"Of course Draco, but then my name isn't Granger anymore. I'm a Sangaur Malefoy. And I'm a pure-blood" she ended in a whisper. He gave her a dirty look

"You'll always stay Granger for me" She smiled, seeing he didn't dare say more with his parents so close. Lila tried to change subject.

"So… How do you know in which house you should go?" Draco quickly looked at her

"Are you entering Hogwarts next year?" He asked

"Yes, and Leo and Keith are too."

"Everybody kno…" Hermione cut him off

"You get sorted by a hat. It's called the sorting hat, you put it on your head and it sorts you in the house he thinks is best for you."

"I was speaking Granger!" Draco obviously wasn't very happy about her cutting him off. Hermione took a very sweet voice

"Really _Draco_? I'm sorry, what you say isn't usually interesting so I thought I might as well cut it out."

He opened his mouth to answer but was cut off –once again- by his mother this time who obviously hadn't heard a word of their conversation

"So Hermione, how does it feel being back here, in your real home?" She asked her with a smile. That was a tricky question; Hermione didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings

"Well… I… I don't really remember here actually." She said carefully, but she hastily added "but I'm delighted to be here now! I already love this place!"

Lucius entered the conversation too

"It's good to know Draco will have good friends this year." The Draco in question opened his mouth again in furor but was, once again, cut off by his father "I mean, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson are nice but you deserve better Draco, don't you?" The little color he usually had had totally left now. He could not contradict his father, not in front of so many persons!

"Yes, you are right Father." He answered.

By that time, desert was on its way. Nobody was very hungry anymore and they quickly headed to another room.

It was a cozy little living room. Not the one facing the entry hall but one on the other side of the castle. A door led outside for summer evenings like that one. A fire place had been carved in one of the walls and red sofas were all around the wooden table. Tea had been served on the little table and all of the guests sat down, waiting for what was about to come. Alrick spoke first

"Dinner is now over; I guess it is time for us to tell you the truth Lila, Leo, Hermione." He looked at his wife and she squeezed his hand, smiling. She then turned and started talking.

"Your father and I were both at Hogwarts together. He was in Slytherin and I in Ravenclaw. He was a jerk. Arrogant, proud, mean! He didn't have to work much to get good grades and broke all of the school rules. I cordially hated him and he felt exactly the same way for me." Alrick laughed

"She spent her time working, never left the library, and told me off every single time I saw her. I don't know how many points she took from me when she was prefect, but we finished last for the cup that year!"

Hermione felt a bit uneasy with that description and she saw Malefoy looking at her and smirking.

"Anyway, we left school still hating each other and went on with our lives. You have to understand, what I am about to tell you is not the part of my life I am the proudest about! Please do not judge me for what I did, I was a young boy and had no other example than what I saw every day! I thought what I was doing was normal but it wasn't. Please, do not judge, especially you Hermione." She stood a little straighter in her chair hoping very hard what she was about to hear wasn't what she thought it would be.

"so… I left school and…" he couldn't say it, couldn't bare his kids to hear about that side of him. He closed his eyes "and I enrolled as a death-eater."

There was a big silence. Hermione had become as white as a corpse, her brother and sister had frozen. Feather broke the silence.

"What is a death-eater?" she asked in a whisper. Hermione turned to her

"It's a very mean person. A murderer. They torture you" she looked at Bellatrix and if looks could kill, there wouldn't have been anything left of Bellatrix, or Hermione for that matter, to burry "and kill you just to have fun. To feel _powerful_ "She accentuated the last word and glared at Lucius Malefoy. She then turned back to her father "But obviously you haven't stayed a death-eater have you? Is that why you fled?"

He turned to look at her and briefly smiled, happy to see she was willing to understand.

"I got scared, I hated myself, hated everything I did each day, and one day _He_ asked me to torture a whole muggle family. The woman was pregnant and she gave birth while I tortured her. It killed her of course and… The baby died too. He was so small, looked so harmless! And I had just killed a new-born baby! Just… just a baby! He could fit in one of my hands alone! That was it; I couldn't bare it anymore. Couldn't bare ripping my soul apart every time. Couldn't bear to hurt others when they hadn't done anything to me! I couldn't bear to sacrifice my life for a madman. You don't live forever and who knows what there is after death? Nobody does, you can guess but you can't be sure! If you aren't happy when you are down here, then maybe you've just passed beside something! So I left. I went to the order. The thing is, I didn't know where they were and couldn't ask anybody in the street, I mean, I was a death-eater 'Hi, yes, I tortured your family, could you tell me where is the resistance? No, I'm good now, I can't prove it to you because I'm still pretending I'm mean just so that I don't get killed but you have to believe me! I'll probably have to kill you after that too just so that nobody suspects anything.' So I went to the only person I remembered that could be in the order. Adora." That time he looked at her and smiled in a sad sort of way. She continued the story.

"It was the middle of the night. I'd just come back from a shift at the hospital and it was raining so hard you couldn't see the tip of your fingers if you put your arm out. I was about to go to bed when somebody knocked on my door. I went to open and… what a surprise it was to see my arch enemy facing me!"

Alrick laughed

"She wouldn't let me in! I stayed hours under the cold rain, drenched to the bone, trying to persuade her to let me in…"

"I was really tired, he wouldn't leave and my eyes were slowly closing by themselves. Finally, I asked him to hand his wand over. He gave it to me without a hesitation."

"She sighted and, after a few more minutes of deliberating, she let me in. She told me she'd been working all day and part of the night and that I could sleep on the couch."

"I put spells all around the flat to prevent him from doing dome tricky thing during the night and sent an owl to Dumbledore to tell him a death-eather was sleeping on my couch. Next thing I knew, I was in my bed, fast asleep."

"Can you believe it? She left me alone on that very uncomfortable couch, curses binding me to it, and I was still soaking wet! And bloody cold! No wonder I got sick.

When I woke up next morning my nose was so plugged I could hardly speak. I was a bit warmer thought and when I saw _the_ old man, the one everybody said would overthrow the Dark Lord, I knew it was due to him that I hadn't died of cold. Then Adora came out of her kitchen, holding a mug in her hand. She'd just gotten out of bed and her eyes were still a bit puffy, her hair untidy, and suddenly, a thought came out of nowhere, _how had I never realized how pretty she was?_

'I know he is your enemy Adora, but you shouldn't have left him like this, all wet in this cold room! He's now got a serious cold!' was saying Dumbledore, faintly frowning.

'I'm sorry, I was just so tired last night when he arrived, I didn't think about his human fragile side' she answered him, not sounding sorry at all and glaring at me. She didn't wait for an answer before adding 'I have got to go to work now sir is it safe to leave you here with him?'

'Of course' he told her 'I perfectly understand you must go. Do not worry for me, you may hand me his wand over and I will take care of everything.' She took my beautiful precious wand out of one of her pockets and handed it over to the old man. Seeing how I was looking at it, he told me not to worry

'We will discuss it at the end of our little talk Alrick.' He told me as my host turned to get ready.

A few minutes later she was coming back, her hair now perfectly tied up in a strict bun, a travelling cloak resting on her frail shoulders. She saluted the professor, gave me a dirty look, and left for whatever her job was. A heavy silence fell on the now almost empty flat. It was broken by Dumbledore

'Alrick… Alrick, Alrick, Alrick' he repeated my name in a sad way 'what have you done Alrick?' he asked me 'burnt your fingers have you? Realized you have made a bad decision?' I looked up in his piercing blue eyes

'Both' I answered before giving a mighty sneeze. How embarrassing! But at least my nose wasn't so plugged anymore, I could speak normally

'You know, I think she left you outside for so long and then soaking wet all night on purpose.' He told me thoughtfully

'I have absolutely no doubt about that' I told him in a sour voice before sneezing once more. After having blown my nose rather loudly, I listened to what the old man had to say.

'Why did you want to see me Alrick?' he asked

'I don't really know anymore. It seems stupid for me to have come to you now.' I blurted out, not really realizing I was telling the truth for the first time in my life. 'I know I've made the wrong choice and I don't want to hurt people anymore.' I added after a second of thought. Dumbledore looked at me with those famous piercing blue eyes

'And why do you think I would want to help you and your conscience?' he asked 'what does your wrecked soul matter to me do you think?'

'I have absolutely no idea about why you would want to have anything to do with me, all I know is that you came to listen to me and you are my best hope.'

'Your best hope? Do you still hope? That is a good news. And can you love? Can you be scared Alrick? Because if you can still feel, than maybe everything isn't lost after all! Do not say anything now' he told me as I opened my mouth to answer him 'You will stay here for a week, I think it will give you enough time to recover from everything. In a week I will come back to see you and we will discuss your future. Now, in what concerns your wand, what do you think I should do about it?

_Give it back to me! _My mind was yelling, but I knew it wasn't the answer he was waiting for.

'Well… I would really like it back but… As much as I hate saying this, it would probably be safer if you kept it. I mean, nothing proves you I'm telling the truth so I think you will trust me better if you know I am willingly letting you keep it hostage.' I told him in what I hoped was a smart tone. 'As long as you don't harm it of course.' I hastily added. A smile appeared on his face.

'You are very wise Alrick. I will then give your wand to Adora to keep.' My heart raced at that news

'What? No! She'll just snap it in two!' I freaked out, but the old man, oblivious to my distress, merely laughed

'Do not worry; I will make sure she doesn't.' He got up and headed towards the door 'Goodbye now Alrick' he said, and he disappeared with my wand, magically locking the door behind him with a spell I didn't know. Much more complex than _Alohomora_ I was sure.

I slumped back into the uncomfortable couch. I had a horrible head-ache, a sore throat and a running nose, I was alone in a flat I couldn't leave, what more in my arch enemy's flat, without my wand and with a death-penalty hanging over my head as surely as the sky was now blue outside.

'See you in a week' I muttered 'Yeah, sure, she'll probably have killed me by that time, and if she hasn't, they will have discovered I've chickened out and the Dark Lord will have ordered them to finish me off…' and just because I was tired and in a bad mood, I went to rest in a real bed –hers- with –did I already mention it? A running nose."

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"When I left that morning, I had a horrible feeling I was going to see him for some time. I tried to reason myself by thinking that it was only until professor Dumbledore was finished talking with him, but still that dread full feeling wouldn't leave.

When I saw the professor arriving during my lunch break with a twinkle in his eyes, I wasn't sure if it was a good or bad news he was bringing.

'You surely had you revenge on all of those years of quarrel' he told me 'the poor guy's got his nose so plugged up he can barely speak! Anyways, we have had our little talk; he will be staying at you flat for a week. Please do not argue Adora' he added, holding a hand up as I opened my mouth in outrage 'he agreed that I give you his wand to take care of. I trust you not to do anything stupid with it.' He stared at me very seriously and I stayed silent. 'I must leave but before I go, do I have your word you will take good care of him?'

'Certainly not!' I answered. He seemed to take that as an assessment.

'Good, I will then be back in a week!' He was about to leave but I called after him

'Professor!' He turned around and gave me a quizzical look

'How do you expect us to live together for a whole week without killing each other?' His eyes twinkled once more

'Adora, you both need to learn how to love.' And he disaparated on these words."

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"'GET OUT OF MY BED!' was the first thing I heard when I woke up. Damn it, that girl knew how to make an entrance! I just groaned, fighting my horrible head-ache. 'OUT!' she repeated, opening the curtains to let the setting sun in. I groaned even louder while she left the room. I lingered on the idea of staying in her very comfortable bed, but decided against it. Better not give her another reason to yell after me right away, there would probably be plenty of opportunities in the next week…

When I entered the kitchen, I didn't regret getting up. My stomach was now as painful as my head as it yarned to eat. I sat down and we ate dinner in silence

'So… where were you today?' I asked her, trying to be friendly. She looked up seeming a bit annoyed but not too angry. Good.

'At work.'

'Uhu'

'I'm a nurse at St-Mango's' She added

'You know what? It doesn't even surprise me you became a nurse! You always liked taking care of people at Hogwarts.' _Especially of my business_ I added to myself. She looked suspiciously up at me, surprised by my sudden friendliness. Luckily she couldn't read my mind!

'Why are you looking like that at me?' I asked her in a very innocent voice.

'You're weird! What happened to you? Bumped your head our something?' I frowned

'Listen, if I want to live more than a week, I'll have to be nice with. Once I'll get out of here I'll get killed so I'd rather have a pleasant week.

'Right. Anyways, I'll transfigure the couch into a bed and light a fire.' She said, clearing the table off.

'Nice change of subject.' I muttered. She slammed three little bottle on the table, giving me a ferocious glare.

'You have to drink these. The red one is for your head ache, the purple one, for your throat, and the yellow one is for your nose. You need to sleep as much as possible because you look like you haven't slept for a week or so and I'll take your temperature again tomorrow morning. If you need anything… you know where I'm sleeping right?'

I nodded and got up, following her into the living room. It wasn't very big, on my left was the entrance and on my right, a very small corridor led to two rooms, hers and the bathroom. A big red couch had been pushed against one of the walls, facing a library and a desk sitting right under a window. Beside the couch was the a chimney.

In a flick of her wand, Adora changed the couch into a miserable little wooden bed. A pile of rough red covers were folded on the end of the bed and there weren't any pillow. I stared at her in disbelief.

'What, exactly, is this?' I asked her in a strained voice, trying very hard not to let my anger out.

'This? Well I thought it was obvious, it's your bed Sangaur.' She answered in an innocent voice.

'How can you call this thing a bed? Even my house-elves have better places to sleep in!'

'Well I'm happy your slaves have a place they can sleep in!' she stormed 'it's the least you can do for them! Honestly, what did you expect, pillows embroidered with gold? Well sorry Sangaur, but you're not in a five star hotel! And I'll tell you what, this is what you deserve!' God she was annoying! And very pretty. But mostly annoying. This time when I answered, I couldn't help my voice from being mendacious.

'What I deserve?' I asked in a whisper 'What I deserve?' I almost yelled, my temper rising in a very dangerous way. She didn't even flinch. Maybe she was suicidal?

'Yes, this is what you deserve. If you hadn't been so stupid and smug and full of yourself, you wouldn't be in this situation.'

Full of myself? Who was she kidding? And that from the witch who considered herself as the best. Nobody could possibly be smugger than her and for the stupid part, well even a hamster would have understood that, when I was in this mood, better disappear for some time! My hand flew to my wand pocket just feel it empty. My heart actually stopped beating for a few seconds before I remembered _she_ had it. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself down.

'Right' I said 'Let's not start arguing right away, it won't do us any good.' She stayed silent so I took that as an approval for my words. 'Now, I know I've done stupid things, which is why I am here by the way, but everybody has. Maybe not as I but still,_ 'l'erreur est humaine'_ as they say in French.'

'Oh, because you speak French now?' She asked in a half surprised, half sarcastic tone.

'Of course, I have family there.'

'Ah yes, the big Sangaur and Aureavis clan… Have they decided on which side they're on yet, or do they think He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is England's problem?' She said sarcastic again.

'Why do you always have to be so mean?' I asked her

'Mean? I'm absolutely _not_ mean'

Uhoh, anger was back again. _Better calm the game down_ I thought

'Anyway, this isn't exactly the subject'

'And what is the subject?' She asked a fierce look on her face

'That thing you call bed. Change it. Please' She studied me for a second and then turned away

'Do it yourself!' she shrugged

'Wait!' I called after her 'In case you've forgotten, you've got my wand!'"

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"He was god so annoying! Merlin, why did he have to come here of all place on earth? I started leaving the room when

'Wait! In case you've forgotten, you've got my wand!'

I turned around. Yes, I had forgotten that precious piece of information. I looked at his tiny little piece of wood that was supposed to be his bed for the night and, even thought I'd fought all evening to keep a fierce look on, I couldn't resist it, and a smile crept on my face. The great Alrick Sangaur, the noble Slytherin, the famous boy every girl seemed too fancy despite his cold features, his proud manners and his interest in the dark arts, was about to sleep in a cardboard bed! That surely wasn't something that happened every day!

'Maybe if you keep on behaving as well as tonight, I'll change it tomorrow' I told him. The look on his face after that was very… entertaining. I could see he was trying very, very hard to keep a calm mask on but his eyes were burning with rage and annoyance. 'Ok, I'll put a pillow and a thicker mattress, but that's just because you're sick.' I finally conceded, taking another look at the bed. 'Now good night!' I told him, and I finally left the room.

That night I couldn't sleep. I kept on thinking of him. He had changed so much! His face had always been cold and proud, but it now seemed like it'd been drained of all happiness, of all life. It was as still as a block of ice, his eyes alone gave an impression of life, but what a life! They had lost all of their brightness. At 21 years old, he had clearly seen, and probably done, too much. Ha had seen that part of the world nobody wishes to face, the evil part.

An yet, he had made so much efforts tonight, I knew it. He had tried to calm everything down, bury our past hatred, and every spike I sent at him he ignored. I knew he was only trying to save his life, but it still felt weird to hear him talk to me in such a _civilized_ manner!

But it didn't change everything he'd done, I reminded myself. He had killed and tortured and the order had information that he would be the Dark Lord's right-hand Death Eater if it wasn't for Bellatrix Lestrange.

It was well past midnight and I still couldn't sleep my head so full with questions. I got up and went to have a glass of water in the kitchen. When I passed the living room I heard a moan. It was quite faint at first but it grew louder and soon changed into anguished cries. They weren't coherent words but tormented yells.

'No!' he was saying in a loud voice 'No, NO, no… NO!' I was fascinated by this man crying in agony, my heart and head were telling me to go help him, stop all this, wake him up from his nightmare, but I couldn't move, standing there in awe

'Monster…' he was now whispering '… I'm sorry… so sorry…' He then fell silent. I waited for a few seconds but he seemed to have calmed down, so I left. The second I was out of the room he started screaming again.

'Don't!' I turned around 'Don't!' he said in a hoarse voice 'Don't! Aaaaaaaaah' he gave a long shriek of pain. That made my muscles sprang into action and in no time I was on him, trying to wake him up, a wet cloth conjured in one of my hands whipping the sweat from his forehead

'There… it's ok… wake up now, you have to wake up!' he gradually calmed down and his cries turned back into moans. His eyelids fluttered and he looked at me in a kind of dazed transe. 'It's al right… Everything is all right, don't worry, you're safe here…' I kept on whispering, brushing some hair off his face? He smiled in a peaceful sort of way

'I know I am' he said, taking hold of my hand, and he went back to a dreamless sleep.

Next morning I was woken up by a few rays of sunshine. Why was I so uncomfortable? I was kneeling on the wooden floor of my living-room, my head resting on a hard bed and my hand holding someone else's. I remembered now. Alrick's crises, I'd stayed to help him and fallen asleep, not daring to remove my hand from his, too scared his nightmares would come back. I slowly opened my eyes to find him staring at me in wonder.

'I'm sorry I kept you here all night' He finally said in a hoarse voice. I smiled and squeezed his surprisingly warm hand

'It's ok, don't worry. Would you like me to make pancakes for breakfast?' I asked him. He stared at me and finally smiled

'sure' He got up and we went to the kitchen. Only there did he let go of my hand.

'So is your cold better?' I asked him, feeling his gaze on my back.

'I don't know if the temperature went down but I feel much better.'

'I'll check' I said, turning towards him. I hesitated for a second before laying my hand on his forehead, his eyes pouring into mine. He had absolutely no temperature and was as cool as ever. Somewhere in my head, an alarm went on 'too close, too close' it wined. I started withdrawing my hand but he held it back and did something I never dreamed he would do. He kissed me. And I kissed him back. It was soft but firm and when we pulled apart, I could see he was a bit confused about why he'd done that. We stared at each other and finally I broke the silence

'You're cold's gone I think' he smiled 'I'll make pancakes' I added and turned back towards the stove.

The week went on quite well, I left during the day for work and brought him news back while he stayed locked up in the apartment – reading and sleeping mostly. We didn't kiss again but talked a lot and I discovered a totally new man than the one I thought I knew.

'Who _are_ you?' I asked him one night after he'd told me he liked muggle classical music

'I've yet to find out' he answered in an enigmatic way

Soon the week was over and Dumbledore was back sitting on my couch. I went out to let them speak alone and when I came back an hour later, Alrick was ready to leave.

'I guess this is goodbye then' I said, trying to put a smile on

'I guess this is goodbye then' he answered and he hugged me."

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"I was glad she didn't ask me if I was going back. I wouldn't have been able to tell her, see the look on her face… I'd come to like her in the past week. A lot. Probably too much.

I hugged her. I was going to miss her so much! I clanged to her like I would clang onto life, not wanting to let her go. Indescribable joy overwhelmed on me when I felt her nails digging into my back. She didn't want to let go either, and just that second I would have gladly forgotten everything and left far away from all of this, just her and me. But Dumbledore cleared his throat, breaking this moment.

'You need to go now Alrick' I looked up. He was right. I had to go. I gently kissed Adora in the corner of her mouth and felt her shiver. I smiled and left without a word. I faintly heard Dumbledore saying goodbye and then he was by my side.

'Ready?' he asked

'Yes' I lied.

And we disapparated"

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"One week.

One single week since he had left and it felt like a whole year. I missed him so much, it was like a huge piece of my heart was missing. Every morning I woke up, hoping to see him, every night I stayed up, wishing he would come an knock on my door, but nothing happened. The days went on and on without me noticing them. I was now as everybody else in the street, sad and gloomy. My best friend Ava would try to cheer up but it didn't work. In a week, my worst enemy had become the man I loved –because there was no doubt about that, I now loved him. What was wrong with me?

I usually worked late every night and now did extra hours. One night, it was about one in the morning, I finally met with him again.

I was so tired because of my late shifts and didn't dare apparate in my flat, fearing I would get splinched. So I left by foot, not really knowing where I was going, just walking in the cool air of the night. There wasn't anybody in the street, our times not being very safe at night, so when two persons apparated at the end of the street, I immediately snapped out of my torpor.

They were two Death Eaters and didn't seem to have noticed me. I quickly changed my white uniform into something black and silently followed them as they started walking.

'I don't know what happened to Sangaur' was saying the tallest man 'I mean, he disappeared for a whole week and now he's back, the Dark Lord didn't even punish him! Just a few curses when two weeks ago he'd killed half of the house-elves of the manor!'

'People say he got freaked out after killing that muggle family.' The largest one was speaking now

'Careful 'bout what you say! You know what happened to Emerick!' The plump Death Eater shivered

'Is he still stuck in that cupboard?' he asked, a hint of fear in his voice

''Course, Sangaur put spells all around it so that anyone who approaches it swells up and becomes bright pink. No one's going to try and rescue him!'

'Yeah well, at least _he's_ lucky; _he_ can live in his own house.'

'Yeah, I'd do almost anything to go sleep in my own bed, but hey, this is what you get when you're a favorite!'

I stopped following them then. I knew where his house was. I knew where _he_ was. I didn't care if he'd gone back again; all I wanted was to see him again.

I was now fully awake and disapparated in Lowelia, a wizard's little town. I quickly found his house (the biggest and prettiest of all) and… I just stood there. I was so close to him but should I ring the bell? Shouldn't I just forget him? Go back to my life and not mingle with the Dark side? I didn't have time to answer all of these questions, the door opened.

'Who's there?' asked a cold dangerous voice.

'It's only me' His cold and cruel mask fell at once

'Adora! What are you doing here?' he asked checking there wasn't anybody 'you shouldn't be here, it's dangerous.'

'I know, I'm a big girl. I wanted to see you again.' He still hadn't looked at me 'I missed you!' I added to make him understand. Finally his eyes met mine. He gave a big sight

'You shouldn't have come here' he said 'it's too dangerous.' A few seconds past before he added 'but I missed you too.' I smiled at that. 'Come in' he told me, showing me the way to his living-room. He conjured a bottle of Firewisky and two glasses and I sat down. I couldn't see much of the room, it wasn't very well lit, but I could see everything was expensive stuff. He sat down next to me and served us both a glass.

'So, you missed you, did you?' He asked with a cocky smile. I frowned

'Something tells me I'm going to regret telling you that' he laughed, an arm around my shoulders, his glass empty. He refilled it.

'How much did you miss me?' he asked in a whisper, his face now inches from mine, my eyes locked in his. I was mesmerized but somewhere, that same stupid alarm went on again.

'You _are_ a bit close Alrick' I whispered back. I felt a bit uncomfortable but he merely smiled and pulled away. There was a heavy silence before he spoke again.

'I went back' he said

'I know. I heard two Death Eaters talking about you. That's how I knew you were here.' He had an annoyed look now

'You heard them talk about me? _In the street_? Merlin, how stupid can they be! I'm sure it was Crabbe and Goyle, they're as thick as… as…'

'A piece of wood?' I proposed. He laughed

'Worse! What were they saying anyways?'

'Well they were surprised about the fact that _He _didn't kill you when you came back.' This reminded me of the _few spells_ he'd apparently got 'Are you ok by the way? If I understood what they said well, you did get a bit hurt didn't you?' He gave me a sweet smile

'Don't worry, I'm used to it. What else?'

'Well they were complaining about you being able to sleep in your own home when they weren't allowed to –which is how I found you- and the tallest one said something like 'Be careful about what you say, you know what happened to Emerick'' That made Alrick laugh really hard, he couldn't stop and he stated hiccoughing.

'Oh my god, poor Emerick' He said, still laughing a bit after a while

'What happened to him?' I asked, curious.

'He just go a bit annoying so I started chasing him, wanting to jinx him, and as I said, they aren't very brilliant. He went and locked himself up in a cupboard, but he can't open the door anymore and I was a bit angry that day so I put a spell so that nobody can open the door without becoming huge and pink. Didn't think it would scare them so much, but at least they leave me alone now!' It was my turn to laugh

'God, you really _are_ unbelievable Alrick!'

Once we'd both calmed down we sat in a peaceful silence; I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

'You know, I really _did_ miss you.' He whispered in the silence after a while. I opened my eyes. He was staring at me with such tenderness in his eyes my heart just melted 'I've never felt so good with someone before.' He continued 'And… Well I think I've… I think I've fallen for you' he finished in a murmur. Our heads had drawn closer to one another without us really realizing it and for the second time that evening I found my face inches from his. But this time, I didn't withdraw.

'I love you too' I whispered back to him, and my lips crashed on his…

I won't tell you what we did that night, nor the following days, all I'll say is we continued seeing each other without anybody –apart for Ava, she knew me too well- knowing for four months. We got married in March 1979, Ava being our only guest and witness. One year later, Lila was born. It was the most beautiful day of our short lives and she gave us the strength and will to continue fighting against the Dark Lord, me by healing the wounded and working for the order, Alrick by being a spy. We named our little girl Lila because flowers have the scent of liberty, freedom, happiness. It reminds you of the summer days at your grand-parents' house. Also because the bouquet Alrick brought me after her birth was a lilac bouquet.

So our lives went on, I was taking care of our little girl and Alrick dropped by as often as he could without arousing suspicion. In 1981, after nine other tiring months of pregnancies, Hermione and Leo were born. They were twins, the most beautiful twins in the world. We named our girl after an aunt of ancient times and our son after another great-great uncle. Now we had three children, it was becoming more and more difficult for me to take care of them on my own, I was exhausted and even though Ava tried to help me at first, she then got married too and had a little girl of her own. Alrick tried to stop by more often, he wanted to see his children too and felt frustrated he could only see them once in a while. After ten months of it, what was bound to happen happened. Bellatrix Lestrange discovered about our bond.

I was cooking dinner that day, Lila and Alex were sleeping but Hermione knew her father would arrive soon enough and wouldn't go to bed; I'd let her on the couch to play calmly and –believe it or not- she was reading one of my books, looking at the images. Somebody knocked at the door and I went to open, thinking it was Alrick. Imagine the surprise when I saw Bellatrix Lestrange standing on my door step, her wand aiming at my heart.

'Well hello Adora' she said, a crazy smile on her lips, and she pushed me aside, entering my flat. Hermione had got up

'_Papa_!' she cried before stopping dead, she might be a little child, barely a year old, but she was very brilliant, she already knew how to speak, walk and she knew this wasn't a very nice lady she was facing. Bellatrix rounded on me, her wand now pointing towards my daughter. She didn't seem happy at all.

'Tell me Adora, does Alrick come here often?'

'Alrick? Alrick who?' I asked, petrified, my eyes fixed on the wand. The mad woman gave a big crazy laugh

'Alrick Sangaur, Mrs. Sangaur. Does your husband come here often?' She knew. I didn't know how but she knew. 'Tell me Adora, or you might regret it' she urged me one. She had caught hold of Hermione's neck and her wand was now pressed against my daughter's throat.

'No. He never comes here.' I said my voice as steady as I could manage it to be.

'Cruci-' started yelling Bellatrix as I watched in horror but she was caught off guard by my daughter's piercing cry which sent her hurling across the room and a second later, Alrick was in the door way, yelling _Expelliarmus_. He had been coming up and heard his daughter's cry.

'Well, well… Alrick, perfect little father are you?' sneered the witch on the floor. He stayed still as marble, just staring at her as Hermione came running towards me and I held her close to my heart.

'You won't say a word Bellatrix' said Alrick in an icy voice. She gave a bark

'And why wouldn't I? Marrying a blood traitor is even worse than marrying a mudblood, especially when you've been hiding all of these years! Oh no, the Dark Lord won't be very happy, will he?' and she burst into crazy laugher once more, but she quickly stopped as Alrick picked her up the floor by the collar of her robes, jabbing his wand in her face.

'You will do as I said Lestrange, you will shut your mouth because I promise you, if ever something happens to them, I'll make you pay such a dear price you will wish you were never born.' They looked at each other, for a long time before she hissed

'What will you give me in exchange?'

'What do you want?' asked Alrick. Bellatrix looked around

'Her' she said, pointing at Hermione. Alrick's voice was ice-cold when he answered

'I am not giving my daughter away; did you really think just _one second_ I would?'

'I want to be her godmother than.' She said sternly.

'Why her?' Alrick asked 'You could be godmother to thousands of little girls if you wanted to.'

'How old is she?' she asked

'Ten months old' answered Alrick

'Well she is ten months old, can walk, speak and has just sent me hurling across this room. Your daughter is talented. I want to be her godmother.' Alrick stared at her in a deadly way for a few more seconds before addressing me.

'Adora, do you agree?' he asked

'If she promises not to say a word.' I answered. It was the only way we had to ensure our security.

'As you wish. Could you please come and conjure an unbreakable vow please?' I put my daughter on the couch once more, took my wand out and started the spell.

'Do you, Bellatrix Lestrange, promise not to say a word about our family to anyone?' She sent a deadly glare at Alrick

'I do' she finally spoke

'Do you, Alrick Sangaur, promise to make Bellatrix Lestrange Hermione Sangaur's godmother?' The words were barely a whisper

'I do'

They both stood up.

'Hermione' called Alrick in a very soft voice. She peered around the sofa and slowly started walking towards him, making a big detour so as to be as far as possible from Bellatrix. She ran into his arms and he gave a wide smile. 'Hermione' he whispered again 'I want you to meet your godmother, Bellatrix Lestrange.' As soon as he said her name, the little girl hid her face into her father's shoulder. I saw a wide smile spread across Bellatrix's face this time.

'I will go Alrick; see you in two hours at the meeting with the Dark Lord.' And so she left.

We continued living as always but two months later, trouble was back. It came on a Sunday afternoon when Alrick apparated in my flat with a look on his face I'd never seen before. Fear.

'We have to leave Adora' was the first thing he said as he saw me. 'Gather all of their stuff up, we're fleeing. He knows Adora, he knows we're married and he's coming after us.'

One minute later, the kids' stuff was ready in three little bags, mine in a larger one. In no more time than it takes to say _flee far, far away_, we were all gone."

x

x

x

"Our first stop was in Sweden.

I'd gone there a few times with my family and didn't think they would find us there. But they did. It was the middle of the night when loud bangs woke us all up. Three Death Eaters had erupted into the house and were sending killing curses to us. One of them barely missed Adora's head; the furniture was exploding all around us. It didn't seem real, just like in a dream. The kids were screaming in the room beside. I was lucky my wife was there. Adora finally realized what was happening, she ran to get the kids, ran back with all three of them clutched in her arms, took hold of my hand, and whoosh… We were gone.

I laid there, on the floor of an unknown forest. Lila and the twins had calmed down but they were still whimpering some times.

'Alrick?' called Adora's gentle voice 'Alrick? Are you ok? Are you hurt darling?' I groaned

'What have I done Adora?' I asked, sitting up to face her 'What have I led you into?' she didn't seem to understand at first but then comprehension dawned on her face as I continued. 'I'll go and see them tomorrow. I'll give myself up and you can all live happily. I'll leave tomorrow and they'll stop trying killing you.'

I'll never forget the slap I got after that.

'You listen to me Alrick Sangaur.' She roared 'You are not going anywhere! Do you even _believe_ what you are saying? Do you _really_ think they'll let us alone after that? Even if _He_ orders it, Bellatrix will come and kill us. Haven't you understood she wants to raise Hermione as her own daughter and make her the most powerful Death Eater of all time? So wither you like it or not, dear husband, you are not leaving me alone with all three of them. Don't you _dare_ try and escape again with such a pathetic excuse! Was I clear enough?'

If you don't understand why I stayed with them after that even with all that happened to us, than obviously you've never seen an angry Adora.

I didn't sleep for the rest of our short night and the next day, we were heading towards a small village down the hill. We hadn't been walking for half an hour than Death eaters found us again. They were waiting for us and the second we came out of the forest, we were surrounded by killing spells once more. We tried to disapparate but couldn't. I laughed.

'Well hello Emerick' I said to the short figure leading the small group of five Death eaters 'I'm amazed you're still facing me, not going to run into another cupboard are you?' He didn't seem to like what I said and attacked even harder, but as I said, Death Eaters aren't always very smart and a few flicks of my wand later, he was changed into a porcupine. Adora was getting along quite well. She had cast a protective spell around the children and killing curses rebounded against the bubble without harming them. Reassured I joined her. She was now facing two Death Eaters, the two other ones already lying on the ground, one stupefied, the second one giggling without being able to stop, two extra legs growing. In one more minute, the two last hooded figures were down too. We stood there, panting, not saying a word.

'We should leave' finally said Adora. I agreed and went to pick Lila and Leo up. As Adora took Hermione in her arms, a black figure immerged from a bush just beside the place where the battle had happen. My wand immediately darted out of my pocket and the intruder held his hands up.

'Calm down, please, calm down, I don't want to do you any harm' he assured us, showing us his empty hands. I let my hand drop.

'Who are you? What do you want with us?' asked Adora, but the stranger didn't seem interested in her questions. He was man of about thirty, maybe more. His hair were filthy and he hadn't shaven for some time. He was obviously on the run too. His eyes were dark and a strange light shined in them. It wouldn't have been possible to tell which color were his clothe but I was sure they were muggle ones. The only thing proving he was a wizard was his wand, sticking out of one of his jean pockets.

'Good job done with those' he said nodding towards the figures sprawled on the ground

'Thank you' said Adora, and she turned towards me 'We should be going now.' We were about to disappear again but the man called after us

'Wait!' He said 'where are you going?'

'We don't know yet' I answered him

'Can I come with you?' he asked. Adora and I glanced at each other 'Please? I haven't met any other wizard for so long. I'm fleeing the horrible dark man harassing England too. Plus I could be of some use to you; one day will come when you won't be able to take care of your children while you're fighting those ravens.'

'He has a point' agreed Adora

'Sure' I said 'Come with us.' He beamed

'My name is Harold' he said, holding a hand out.

'Alrick' I greeted him, and we left.

So for three weeks we fled. Every day or so we encountered Death Eaters and every day or so, we defeated them. It wasn't before Bellatrix got mixed up in it that we thought of separating ourselves. Of course we knew this had to stop, you couldn't possibly grow like this, but it didn't stop, and one day Bellatrix Lestrange was in the group of Death Eaters attacking us. I knew it was her because, just like Emerick loved anti-disapparating spells, she loves the Crucio spell. And she used it on you, Lila.

As always we were fighting and even thought we were only three against ten, we were three strong wizards against dumb wizards, some of them imperiused, some of them thick as wood –like Crabbe and Goyle for instance. We'd put the usual protective spell on all three children and weren't watching you, concentrating on the battle. That's when I heard a loud piercing shriek of pain. I turned around and what I saw was the most horrible thing ever. Bellatrix was holding my precious daughter, my little Lila, by the skin of her neck and just as I aimed a spell at her she ducked it.

'Crucio' she said with a gleeful smile. And there you were Lila, squirming in agony, big fat tears streaming down your face, and beside you that mad woman was still holding you up by the neck, a big smile on her lips, laughing with pure madness. An innocent child held up by the devil. _My_ child being tortured. And as I ran forward to try and help you, she just laughed even harder, expelling me on the other side of the battle field. I saw Leo try to help his sister, grabbing the witch's leg but she just kicked him away. If it hadn't been for Harold, I don't know what would have happened to you. He crept behind her and with a big branch, he knocked her out. Quick and clean. Adora, who had been fighting at that time, turned around and her foot smashed into the woman's face. She took Lila in her arms and we left, all six of us, towards a new destination."

x

x

x

"That evening wasn't a very joyful one. Lila kept on waking up, shaking from her nightmares, Leo had a big bruise where she had hit him and Hermione was sobbing in her sleep. Alrick, Harold and I stayed up all night.

'We can't keep on like that' I said after a while.

'What should we do then?' asked Alrick

'I don't know. I don't like being threatened every day, but I can live with it. The children won't. If the Death eaters don't kill them, they'll get sick. They'll hurt themselves. Plus you can't bring a kid up while running away.' There was a silence after what I'd say.

'There might be a solution' said Harold, hesitating 'but you won't like it.'

'Go on' told him Alrick

'Well… You could leave your kids to a family to take care of until you get rid of the threat hanging over your head and then you can go and get them back.'

'You mean… ask people to adopt them?' I asked, uncertain

'Yes' said Harold 'but just for some time, just until you aren't threatened anymore.'

Alrick didn't say anything but I could see he was even whiter than usual. He was so proud of his children and loved them so much; he would never want to get rid of them.

The next morning a sudden breeze had gotten up and just as I had predicted, the kids had gotten a cold. They had grown at an impressive pace, Lila was barely two and the twins not even one, but none of them complained, they didn't cry often and there were times when they even walked beside us. They seemed more like they were three or four than two and one.

We were now in Norway, in a deserted place. From far away we saw the big castle with steam coming out the chimney. It was raining and we were all very tired so we headed there. The owners, Sir Bardstown and his wife, welcomed us in their big castle. They had very aristocratic manners and liked Alrick right away because of that. They had always wanted a little girl they told us, and they were in adoration in front of Lila.

Alrick and I talked a lot about it and after a few arguments more or less violent (including one when Alrick blew the whole room up) we finally agreed with each other. We would ask this muggle family if they wanted to adopt our daughter. Harold, who was fed up of having to run away all the time, would stay and be her preceptor. He would teach her magic and muggle subjects like Norwegian, English and Math and protect her if needed. He would also wright to us so that we could still keep in touch with her, but he was never to tell her about us. If ever we died, then she wouldn't be tormented by parents she didn't remember. The Duck and the Duchess of Bardstown were very surprised and a bit horrified about our demand, but remembering the state we were in when we arrived, they accepted in adopting our daughter. A small week had passed without any sign of the Death Eaters. We left on a sunny morning, a whole in our heart. Lila was still sleeping and Hermione and Leo didn't understand why we were leaving her and Harold behind. We went on. Three days later we were in a pub in Germany. We had had only one little encounter with the hooded figures but gotten rid of them very easily. A grubby wizard accosted us.

''You English?' he asked. We merely nodded 'Fleeing hey? We saw some like you a week ago.'

We didn't answer as I whipped the hot chocolate off Hermione's mouth.

'They put rewards for you in the village beside' the wizard whispered to us. My head snapped up. 'But you're supposed to be accompanied by a third child and another wizard.'

Leo slipped out of my clutch and walked up to the man, taking hold of his leg

'Well hello little buddy!' he beamed down at my son. He took him onto his laps. 'What happened to the little girl and the man with you?' he asked us

'They stayed behind' told him Alrick shortly.

'What a hard decision it must have been. Leaving you own child with someone else. Not knowing if you'll ever see her again.' I saw Alrick's hands tighten up as the man continued speaking 'I'm leaving for Australia soon, much less trouble there. I really like your son by the way, he's very cute. I had a son before, but he died when they attacked our village a year ago. My wife was devastated.' My heart tightened. Poor man, he seemed nice. He invited us to stay at his place for the evening. We didn't have a place where to sleep so we accepted his offer. The next day we were about to leave when a big group of Death Eaters accosted us, once more. They were about thirty and we definitely didn't have a chance of winning. We were surrounded by them and prepared to die. I was glad we had left Lila with the Bardstown. She would be safe at least.

'I'll be back, just cover me please' I whispered to Alrick, and with Leo in my arms, I ran through the crowd of Death Eaters and disappeared to the grubby man's house. He was quite surprised to see me irrupting in his house, out of breath.

'Still leaving for Australia?' I asked him

'Yes, yes of course but what's the matter?' I trusted Leo in his arms.

'Take him with you. You'll take good care of him, won't you?' I asked him

'Of course but why give it to me? He's your son; you shouldn't be giving him away!'

Alrick arrived on those words

'Wizards in the pub came to help me' he explained, holding his daughter close to his chest 'I figured you would be here.'

He didn't look mad, just sad. He had gotten used to the idea.

'But… what happened to you? Why are you giving your children away? You shouldn't!' the man was saying 'especially not to strangers!' Alrick rounded on him

'What do you think? That I _like_ abandoning them? That it's my favorite hobby maybe? Of course it tears my heart to pieces, but I'd rather they were safe than being egotistical and seeing them tortured before my eyes. I don't want them to die, can't you understand that?' They stared at each other for some time and finally, the grubby man answered.

'I will take your son, but it is only for his own good. And I will be expecting you to come and get him once all of this is over. You are his parents, you should be raising him. I'm only keeping him safe.'

'Of course we will come and get him back.' I assured him

'Do you agree to perform an unbreakable vow?' asked Alrick 'We left a friend with Lila to make sure she was safe, we don't know you.' The man merely held his hand up and Alrick grabbed it.

'My name is Igor Sumrall' he told me and I performed another unbreakable vow."

x

x

x

"'We're going back to England' was the first thing I told Adora when we left Igor and Leo. She looked at me with a questioning look and I explained myself

'Lestrange wants Hermione most. She'll expect us to have given her to people on the other side of the planet, as far away from her as possible, not under her nose in her own country!'

'You are right' she agreed 'but then, we'll give her to muggles. I know you don't like that idea, and it's exactly why we're going to do it. She'll expect you to give your daughter to powerful wizards to keep her safe, not ordinary people.'

And so we left to England. There we found the Grangers. They seemed very nice and wanted a child. They would no doubt take good care of her. We couldn't tell them we were wizards so no unbreakable vow was performed and no wizards stayed to take care of her. She was now on her own. It was hard to persuade them to take Hermione, but they finally agreed and we left. We were relieved to have abandoned our children because more than once we made narrow escapes and if they had been there, they would probably have left their lives.

During one more month we fled all over Europe, the Dark Lord's people trailing behind us, waiting for us at every corner. And then we heard about it. The Dark Lord's fall. He was dead they said. Had disappeared. The that threatened our lives was gone, killed by a little boy of barely one. Harry Potter was his name. I didn't know Potter very well but his wife, Lily Evans, had been a friend of Adora's. Whatever, we could now go back and find our children, we could live a normal life, be happy again! But that was counting without the ministry. They were looking for Death Eaters. I was in the top ten of their _wanted_ list. How ironic. Tracked by all of them. Would I never be alone? So once more we fled, but this time they were Aurors. After another six months of that tiring escape, we settled down with Adora. We became muggles. We didn't use our wands again; we lived just like the non-magical people.

We bought a little house in the Alpes in 1983. Adora became a doctor in the muggle hospitals, I became a business man.

In 1986, Keith was born. The ministry was still looking for me. Not as much as before, but it still wasn't safe to go back. Harold was keeping us updated with Lila. She was becoming a wonderful little girl. She had a very calm temper he said, and she loved learning. Everything fascinated her. She got along quite well with her adoptive parents, but she knew deep down they weren't her real parents. She had asked him if she had been adopted. Igor had sent us a howler when we told him we couldn't come and get Leo because of the ministry threat, but I think he was very happy with our son. He occasionally sent us letters telling us about him. Apparently he liked joking a lot and loved the sea. Books weren't really what he liked most, but he was intelligent. He liked experimenting things better than reading about them in books. Hermione was the only one we didn't hear about.

In 1989, Feather was born. We were talking about coming back to England and Adora went there. She watched Hermione for a whole day. She seemed to be happy. She still loved reading. She didn't perform magic but it was probably hidden deep in her. Adora brought a Daily Prophet back. Everything seemed back to normal. Except for the last page of the paper. It was a page with pictures of wanted Death Eaters. I had the biggest picture on it. So we stayed in the Alpes.

In 1991, Hermione entered Hogwarts. We had no way of knowing how it went and all we could do was hope everything had gone well and that she enjoyed herself there.

In 1994, we thought about coming back again. It took until 1995 for us to go back to England. As soon as we got there, we went straight back to the Alpes. The Dark Lord was back. My mark had burnt me like never before. That boy they called liar was right. Harry Potter was telling the truth. After a bit more of arguing. Another year to be exact, we finally decided to go back to our home land. It was time to face the truth. We would always be wanted; we might as well choose our side and fight for it."

x

x

x

"We got in touch with Dumbledore. He welcomed us back and told us all about you, Hermione. How smart you were, what wonderful friends you had and all you'd been through. You didn't seem to remember anything about you past life, which was a good thing. You didn't need to remember those horrible days. We went back to my family's manor with Keith and Feather. We sent letters to all of your guardians. Lila arrived first with Harold. She was a beautiful young lady. She had grown up so much and we'd missed all of it! But we promised ourselves we would make up to all this wasted time. Harold left shortly afterwards.

Then came Igor and Leo. We would never have recognized him. He was now a teenager, he had fair hair and his skin was tanned by the Australian sun. He had laughing blue eyes and I never regretted having left him with Igor. This happy light would probably never been there otherwise.

And finally, you arrived Hermione. Accomplished lady too, you immediately got along with everyone. You have the same bushy hair as the aunt we named you after.

Now you know everything. We are very happy to be all together again and I can't begin to tell you how much we missed you all."

x

There was a silence in the room as Adora finished this long story. And suddenly, Lila got up.

'I love you too, mum, dad' she said, hugging them both. Hermione and Leo got up too and joined her.

'Yes, don't worry, you did the right thing' they reassured them. There was a big family embrace as they all hugged each other. After some time, Alrick looked significantly up at Adora and she nodded.

'Would you all like to go for a walk?' she asked them. All the children got up.

'Wait!' said Hermione while she was in the corridor 'I forgot to take a sweater. You go on, I'll be back in a second' she told them, running up to her room. As she came back down, she heard something she shouldn't have heard.

'Explain yourself, Alrick, what was all that about?' was saying Bellatrix's voice

'Yes' was saying Lucius 'what is that story about you helping the order?'

'What do you know about my daughter Lucius?' was asking Alrick

'Well… I always considered her as a mudblood. She is best friends with the blood traitors and the stupid Potter boy. And Draco tells me she is the best witch Hogwarts has had in a hundred years.'

'Right. And you Bellatrix?'

'I don't know mudbloods. I take no interest in them.' Came Bellatrix's sharp voice

'Well I'll tell you what that story was all about. The Dark Lord sent me as a spy in the order. I took the initiative actually, and even though he didn't like me thinking of it first, he had to admit it was a good idea. I married Adora and even had children with her. What better proof? I told the order I would be a spy for them. The Dark Lord put all that chasing business to prove to the order I was on their side. It just went a bit too far, thanks to you Bella.' Hermione could feel the accusation in his tone.

'Well how was I supposed to know you weren't a real enemy?' she defended herself

'Whatever, what is done is done. I have come back now, my credibility is at its highest point with the order _and_ my daughter is best friends with the one you call _stupid Potter boy_. I am the Dark Lord's best chance of defeating him now, but the order has to believe I am still on their side. Do you understand now?' Nobody said anything. Hermione slowly backed up, horrified. Finally she ran out of the doors and joined the rest of the troop.

'Are you ok?' asked her brother 'you look like you've just seen a ghost. Or worst, like you've been facing a three headed Dragon.' She briefly smiled

'I'm ok, don't worry. Just a bit tired.'

But deep inside, she had a horrible thought

_My father is a Death Eater_

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_OK, there you are, the end of my third chapter ^^ did you like it? I hope so! _

_I don't like the end so much, I think I was getting a bit tired and my english isn't very good . There shouldn't be any mistakes, but if ever you see one, tell me!_

_I'll try to wright fast but I'll be going back to school and all so don't be to eager, it might take some time! _


	4. Chapter 4

Hey! I'm really, really, really, really sorry to be posting so late, but I've had so much trouble writing this chapter, I really wasn't inspired _at all_. I suppose that's what happens when you know the story by heart, it's boring to write afterwards... BUT it should get a bit more interesting after this ^^ so... without anymore delay, enjoy! (hum, just forgot to say, the next chapter might be a bit long to come too... I should be posting at every vacation though!)

**Chapter 4**

_My father is a Death Eater..._

That thought haunted Hermione for the rest of the vacations; whenever she saw Alrick, her heart would miss a beat and she would shiver. _How could he ask her to pass him the salt in such a relaxed manner? Should she show that she knew he was an enemy? Or should she just play along, hoping it would backfire on the man who called himself a father? _Was_ he her father? Or had he imperiused Tom and Heather Granger? _So many questions were running through her head, and for the first time, Hermione Granger, now known as Hermione Sangaur, didn't have an answer for any of them. Her only link with the rest of the world was the letters she exchanged with Harry, Ron and Ginny but she couldn't ask them for any advice for she hadn't told them about her change of family –she wanted to tell them face to face- and she was scared the Death Eaters would be reading her letters, looking for a clue to hurt the famous Harry Potter.

'Are you alright Hermione?' Ginny had asked her in one of her letters, before adding she would always be there if she had something to tell her. The fact that the Weasleys had invited her at the Burrow, just like every summer since her first year, and that she had gently but firmly refused hadn't done much to reassure her two best friends who were wondering what was happening to her, but she thought it would be rude leaving her new family when they hadn't even passed a month together yet and would be parting soon. Besides, she did enjoy spending time with her mother, brothers and sisters, she was glad to have such a big family and her father only came back in the evening from his numerous travels, only shadowing the dinners.

Therefore, it was in a good atmosphere, sometimes disturbed by the Malefoys - who seemed to like the Manor very much and dropped in more than once over the summer, supposedly holding Mrs. Sangaur company but merely enforcing Draco's company on the other children- that the sleep-ins, long swims in the lake and wondering in the mountains took an end, and ten days before term was to start again, the letters from Hogwarts arrived.

Hermione had been reading until late the night before and she was the last one to enter the kitchen that morning. The big dining room she had ate in the first night was only used for special occasions; the small dining room, for lunch and dinner –although small wasn't a very good word to describe it, with its big doors, huge table and humongous windows; it resembled a room in a museum more than a dining room- and breakfast was taken in the cozy kitchen were they all huddled around an antique wooden table. Everything seemed antique in this house, remarked Hermione.

The first owl arrived by the end of breakfast and it landed smoothly on the table before Lila. She looked at it with big, surprised eyes before detaching the letter from its leg, setting him free.

'What is this?' she asked, holding, the peace of parchment in her hands, not daring to open it. Then, she saw the seal and turned towards Hermione 'Is this… The letter from Hogwarts!' she said, as realization dawned on her.

Let me explain one or two things before we continue. Hogwarts is, as you all know, a school of 'witchcraft and wizardry'. It is also a school known in the entire wizarding world, as the most famous school directed by the non-less famous Albus Dumbledore, order of Merlin first class. Every year, a handful of students are picked and sent a letter to enter this famous school. Can you imagine the look of a child that has just met Father Christmas? It would be an euphemism to say that the lucky wizards that receive the letter have the same look on their face, and Lila was no exception. Everybody hurried towards her, peering over her shoulder as she gently opened the precious bit of parchment.

Dear Miss Lila Sofia Sangaur,

We are pleased to inform you that, for this last year of your scholarship, you have a place at Hogwarts, School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. There will be no need to pass any tests; we have succeeded in having a full report of your abilities from your past Tutor. Please notice that some of the options will be unavailable to you, having not studied them in the past years.

Term begins on 1 September. The Hogwarts Express that will be bringing you will be leaving at 11 am sharp.

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

There was a brief moment of silence as everyone finished reading the letter.

'Why haven't I received any?' exclaimed Keith

'Dumbledore wrote the letter!' said Hermione in a surprised voice. At the confused look on all of their faces, Adora explained

'The deputy Headmistress usually writes the letters, but you are integrating the school for the last year, he must have taken your case personally.'

'But why haven't I got any?' wined Keith

'Don't worry, it will arrive soon enough' reassured him his mother 'now, let me see your list of furniture Lila' she demanded.

'Don't you want to work as a nurse?' asked Hermione

'I would, but I haven't studied care of magical creature so I'm afraid I'll have to find something else'

'You want to become a nurse?' asked Feather, very interested

'Yes, I would like to work in a hospital later, save people's lives!'

'A hospital like _Ste-bonne-Poire_?' her mother came in aid

'Yes darling, like the hospital you visited in France.'

'And could I help you save people too?' asked Feather once more

'We'll see, we'll see…' was Lila's enigmatic answer.

x

Hermione, Alex and Keith's letters didn't arrive before late that afternoon. They were playing hide and seek beside the lake when three barn owls appeared. Keith jumped out of his hiding place and, pointing at the moving shapes, started alerting them all with loud cries.

'They're here! They're here! The letters are here!' were his words

'Calm down Keith, you'll scare them away!' Alex threatened his hyper brother. A smile spread on his lips at the sight of his brother's frightened face. The three owls landed smoothly on a rock nearby and stuck a leg out in a very synchronized and serious manner. Feather and Lila watched as their siblings detached their letters from the messengers' leg.

'Mother!' cried Keith once again, making the owls glare at him 'Mother! We've got the letters!' Adora came out of the house. She was alone today; the Malfoys had some important business and didn't have time to come. 'Look, I've got the letter from Hogwarts!' he thought it useful to repeat. His mother smiled at him

'Open it' she told him with a smile.

In the meantime, Alex was squinting at his letter, wondering whether he should open it or not. He was used at being free, would he like this new school with all its rules? He wasn't so sure. Feather slipped from her sister's arms and came to hug him

'Open it!' she whispered with imploring eyes. She was the only one not to have any letter. Alex smiled and crouched at her side.

'Let's do it together' and her little hand in his, they broke the seal.

'Dear Mr. Alex Ryan Sangaur' said the letter

'We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts, School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry for your sixth year. Please find enclosed a list with all necessary books and equipment. Term starts on 1 September. The train will be leaving at 11 am sharp, a ticket has been enclosed.

Cordially,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress'

There was a silence for a while and Alex broke it

'This is all too formal for me' he muttered while Feather peered at his letter with envy.

'Let's get inside' exclaimed their mother in a cheerful voice 'It's going to rain soon. We'll have a big dinner tonight to celebrate all of this!'

X

Keith's room was in emerald tones. The walls were bare and the grey rocks showed but the hangings and the curtains were in a light green, a turquoise rug on the floor. He was already packing his luggage for 'the big adventure' as everyone called it when there was a soft rap on the door

'Come in!' he called while searching for one of his sets of robes in his wardrobe. The door slowly opened, letting a small blond head in.

'You're already packing?' asked Feather in a small voice

'Feather! What are you doing here?' he asked in a nonetheless cheerful voice

'I wish I were going to Hogwarts too' she said in a small voice

'Oh don't worry; you'll be there in no time!'

'Yeah, right, in three years!' she said, frowning. Her brother sat on his bed

'Don't worry Feather, I'll write you tons of letters! I'll tell you everything there is to know! It will be as if you were there!'

'Really, you promise?' she asked, eyes shining

'Have I ever lied to you?' Keith asked in a severe voice

'Loads of time' she glared at him, and Keith chuckled

'Well this time, I promise.'

'I'll miss you' she said after a while, hugging him

'At least you'll have mom all for yourself!' she frowned

'It's not the same thing if I can't even fight with you to get her!'

'Oh you want to fight, do you?' he asked, his eyes sparkling, and without an answer, he jumped on her and they rolled on the floor.

After that night, time went by very quickly and before they knew it, the first of September had arrived…


	5. Chapter 5

Hi!...

...

...

No, you aren't dreaming, I'm back. After... a year? I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, really! I just couldn't wright anymore, I was fed up with this story and had absolutely NO inspiration! I actually thought I was going to abandon it... But it's got the better of me and I'm here with another chapter!

I'm not exactly satisfied with it either, I don't really like the writing, but hey! it's by trying you get better! (I'm listening to the super man main theme song right now so I'm kind of being inspired by it I think... ^^') I've also written about two or three more chapters but I'm leaving tomorrow and I won't have access to internet (or my computer, as a matter of fact) for some time plus I'd like to finish writing this story before uploading more chapters. I'll see when I come back. This chapter is mainly to tell you "I'm back! Don't despair, the rest is coming!"...

Anyway, without further ado:

**Chapter 5**

Alex's point of view

I followed Hermione through the barrier into the crowded wizard train station. The Hogwarts Express was there, a deep scarlet engine, towering and imposing, just as my sister had described it. I followed my twin as she hurried towards a group of people -most of whom were Redheads, except for two boys with black hair.

'Harry! Ron!' she squealed as she reached them, and I gathered those were her two best friends, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. Weasel and Scarface as Draco Malefoy had called them one day.

'Ginny!' she cried, hugging a redheaded athletic and good-looking girl. Hermione then went on, greeting the whole clan. Finally she turned towards me

'Everybody, I'd like you to meet Alex, my-' she was cut by what I guessed was Mrs. Weasley, looking over my shoulder

'Arthur, pinch me' she whispered

'I'm sorry Molly dea- is that… Is that Adora?' he asked in an awed voice, spotting mother advancing towards us

'Well good morning Molly, Arthur' she greeted them as she reached us. No one answered.

'Adora… Is that really you?' Mrs. Weasley had recovered the ability of speaking

'Yes, I believe it is I, Molly'

'What are you doing here Adora?' It was Mr. Weasley's turn to ask, and I was surprised to hear a hint of anger in his voice.

'Just the same as you, I guess, bringing my children to the train. What else could I be doing here?' as she didn't get any answer, she turned towards Hermione's friends. 'You must be Ronald, correct?' the red headed boy nodded his head. 'And you, Harry, do look so much like James. Lily would have been thrilled.' Suddenly, hell seemed to have been set lose

'How dare you talk to him about Lily?' screamed Mrs. Weasley. Mother's eyes became slits

'What _is _your problem Molly?' came the whisper. And to render matters worse, Lucius Malefoy arrived

'Adora.' He greeted her in this cold and arrogant manner he had. Mother stiffened

'Lucius' The cold grey eyes studied the Weasley family and a slight sneer appeared on his dignified face

'Care to join us? You wouldn't want to mingle with the wrong persons…' his question was, of course, rhetorical, but mother answered it nonetheless

'No, I wouldn't want to mingle with the wrong person, but you don't always have the choice. Molly, Arthur, have a good day.' And with those last words, she swiftly turned away. There were a few instants of silence before one of the twins, Fred or George, whistled

'What was that?' he asked. His father waved a hand dismissively

'Nothing to worry about, just an old school friend.' A look of astonishment I could understand only too well settled on every face. At that moment, I wished very hard never to become one of their friends.

'She didn't turn out so well though' clarified Mrs. Weasley, still glaring at the place where mother had disappeared. 'Anyway Hermione, dear, what were you about to say?'

I could feel my sister's embarrassment from where I was. It was quite disturbing how we were so close, but felt like complete strangers at the same time.

'Uh… Nothing, really, I… uh… I have to go and see my parents, see you on the train boys!' she called 'coming Alex?' and I once again followed her in the overcrowded hall

'So those are Harry and Ron?' I asked. She smiled

'Well yes. I don't understand what happened, I mean, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley usually are very kind!'

'And what was that all about with Lily? She's Harry's mother right?'

'Yes. People get very touchy about Lily and James when people that caused their death talk about them, but from what Father and Mother told us, they had nothing to do with… Wait a second!' she said, as realization dawned on her. She rounded on me

'I'll tell you something 'lex, but you have to swear you won't spill the beans!'

'I would never do that!' she glared at me 'Ok, I swear.'

'Right, so you know how Father was a Death Eater and he and mother hated each other? And how he turned out to me nice in the end? Well what if _she_'d gone over to the dark side?' I opened my mouth to protest but she silenced me 'No, wait, let me finish. You've realized how these past few days I've become distant with Father?' I nodded my head 'well that's because I heard him, Bellatrix and the Malefoys speaking. He's on their side; he's just pretending to be nice. He's an agent for the Dark Lord.' She finished in a whisper. I shook my head this time.

'That doesn't make sense Hermione' I whispered back 'they've come back to get us, and see how they're acting with us? They care about us! And they left you with muggles, if they were pure-blood fanatics, then they wouldn't have done that.'

'But that's it, isn't it? They're _acting_ it's all about their cover!' There again I shook my head

'You can't say this. Please don't. True, they've mingled with the dark side, but people make mistakes! And you probably haven't noticed it, but father is hurt whenever you turn away from him'

'But I _heard_ him' she insisted 'and why would they have come back when the person they put so much energy into fleeing has just came back? Why now?' I had to admit she had a point there, but really? Death Eaters? No way.

'Mother doesn't have the mark. '

'She was in Ravenclaw, maybe she was clever enough to find a spell to conceal it. Or they've kept her clean to stop us from being suspicious. Or she's been imperiused, after all we don't know her that well, we wouldn't be able to tell if she was any different from before or-'

'Stop it Hermione. I can just see the wheels spinning in your head, making something crazy up. True, we don't know them, but don't you think we ought to give them a bit more credit? And besides, don't you think this would be going too far? They couldn't have planned all of this out. Known they would meet Harold or Igor; known the Grangers would accept taking you in; known you would end up in Gryffindor and become best friends with Harry and Ron –hell, they didn't even know about Potter at that time!'

Hermione looked at me with a frown before letting her shoulders slump

'Yeah, 'suppose you're right, but I'm telling, there's something fishy about it all.'

'And you're gonna find out what it is. I trust you to, too. It isn't for nothing they call you the "brightest witch of your age"'

'How'd you hear about that?' she asked me as we finally moved on towards our parents; I laughed

'Draco isn't too happy 'bout it, you should have seen his face when he finally admitted you keep on beating him on every test!' That cracked a smile on her face too and she gave a small laugh of her own

'Yes well, it does make me feel good, beating him like that…'

As we got to the less crowded end of the platform and neared our family, I watched them all. Standing straight and tall, Lila seemed lost and cruelly out of place. She held her suitcase close to her and her neck was so stiff it seemed like it would break at the slightest movement. Father was holding Feather's hand while speaking to some stranger, his back stiff too, and Hermione's words came back to me; _'He's on their side' _her voice whispered to me, but I quickly shook my head, dismissing it. Feather was watching as Mother straightened Keith's collar and seemed to be giving him last minute recommendation. _'What if she'd gone over to the dark side?'_… I shuddered and once again shook my head. She couldn't be, she was kind, of that I was sure. As she let Keith go, Feather ran to him. They'd spent their whole life together, I realized

'It must be hard for her to see him go, she's going to miss him' whispered Hermione beside me. I merely nodded. Somewhere in the distance, a whistle blew.

'This is our cue' sighted my sister 'come on' She walked towards Mother and hugged her, promising she'd keep all of us safe and sound, then kissed Feather when she wouldn't let Keith go and, surprisingly, hugged Father, even though she seemed a bit cold in doing so. Lila seemed even more tensed if that was possible and Keith needed both our parents' help to free himself from Feather. Finally, all four of us mounted the train just as it started moving. For some time we waved and then the platform was gone and we were left in the corridors.

"Where to now?" I asked my sister

"We need to find Harry and Ron, they'll have a compartment for us" she informed us, walking down the train, pulling her trunk behind her. We didn't have to search for long; soon enough Hermione was walking into a large enough compartment where her two best friends, the good looking redhead girl and two other strangers were sitting

"Hermione! Where were you?" immediately asked her the redheaded boy "Blimey!" he added upon seeing us "who are they?"

"Yes, I'm happy to see you too Ron and yes, I had a great summer too." She said sarcastically back to him. He at least had the decency of seeming a bit ashamed of himself. "I told you, I was with my parents" she carried on "and they are… long story." she sighed "And you're not going to like it much, I fear." She added "Just help with the suitcases and I'll explain."

A few minutes later we were settled and she started the explanation.

"Remember Gin', when you asked me if everything was fine?" she asked, turning towards the redhead girl. The latter nodded. "And I told you I'd tell you all about it when I would see all of you. Well I think the time has come. They," she nodded her head towards us "are my brothers and sister."

The compartment was silent for a few seconds

"I don't understand" finally said Harry

"Lila is a year older than me, Leo and I are twins and Keith is five years younger."

"I still don't understand." Said Harry

"I think what Harry means is, how come you've got new brothers and a sister now? And all wizards too." Clarified the blonde girl with a smile. Luna her name was.

"You see, my parents –by which I mean the Grangers- aren't my real parents."

Silence, once more.

"I've been adopted"

I was beginning to think they had all lost their tongues when Potter finally spoke up

"Who are your parents then?" Was it me or was his tone_ slightly_ suspicious?

"The Sangaurs" Ah, apparently the Weasleys knew the name, seeing as they blanched.

"You're kidding right?" Oh, and the Neville boy too!

"No…" That sounded a bit lame, sorry Hermione…

"They're death-eaters."

"They ran away from _Him_, obviously they aren't his followers." Good girl, keep your doubts of loyalty in the family, Hermione!

"They're friends with the Malefoys" Touché, Weasley girl, touché

"They are. But that's not the worst part." Ok, I think we should say something now; she's only making it worse

"What's the worst part?" Weasley boy seems a bit too doubtful over there, my turn to speak up

"What makes a human being isn't its family's connections; it's the way he acts. Lucky Potter wasn't so prejudiced against Black when they were in Hogwarts together" Ha, well that shut them up well enough. A bit to well, to tell you the truth. Silence is stretching out once more

"You and Hermione are twins then?" Weasley girl, way to state the obvious. "Fred and Georg are going to feel threatened." Ah yes, the two twins

"I don't see why, Leo and Hermione don't look anything alike. From what I've heard, their pranks mostly work because they're copies of one another."

"You're Keith, right?" Is it me or did Ron narrow his eyes to say that? He doesn't like my brother.

"That's I, the one and only" Keith smirks at him

"By the way, Harry, are we going to continue Dumbledore's army this year?" I like the Luna too, she's good for diversion

"What? Oh, uh…" I'm starting to believe Draco when he says Hermione's the brain of this trio. And judging on Keith's raised eyebrow, I'm not the only one…

'It'd be fun" comes Luna's voice

"We'll think about it." Says my sister. Once more, silence is our guest.

"You've got a Quidditch team at Hogwarts?" Lila, as fragile as she looks, is a great beater. Surprising? I agree. First time I played against her, I didn't believe it. Draco neither. Too bad for him, he was the one that got the bludger. He's a bit more careful around her now.

"Yeah! Gryffindor's the best too!" there we go, we'll be speaking Quidditch for some time now, and Hermione knows it, seeing as she's taken a book out of her suitcase.

At some point in the conversation I fall asleep. It's not that I'm not interested in Quidditch but... I'm not.

Some time later on -a few hours I'm guessing- my sister shakes me awake.

"We've arrived" she tells me, pointing out the window, and there it stands: Hogwarts.


End file.
